Want to “Fix” the Equality “Problem” in the Gender Wage “Gap” – Here’s How

If we’re to believe the progressives in America today, one of biggest issues in society is the war on women and how women are not earning the same as men. I want to examine the facts behind this narrative and then share a real life story with you that solves it the right way.

The history of the Progressive movement in America is one of finding perceived problems or wrongs in society and dealing with them by getting the government to fix it. They want to be your hero or maybe being your savior might be more accurate. Do you remember this picture from several years ago?

Well for the last eight years we have listened to President Obama attack everyone on the right because apparently we hate women. According to the left, we “right-wingers” hate women so much that we want to keep them out of education, out of work so they can find their place at home, cooking and cleaning for us men.

In the rare exception we let women work, we have to ensure they know their place in society by making sure they only earn a fraction of what a man earns – today that is about seventy seven cents on the dollar. All of this sounds heinous, but it plays great in the media and for politicians talking with liberal donors. Do you know any person on the right who truly believes that?

First let us deal with the facts and then I will provide you with solutions. So, is the figure the President used accurate? Of course it is… We all know a President would never ever lie, right? While it is accurate, you need to put the figures into context, so let me give you a real life example.

For this figure to be accurate you have to include all male and female workers regardless of occupation. Do you see a problem comparing what a male brick layer earns compared with a female working in a doctor’s office doing admin? Is it right to compare the two? These two individuals have nothing in common; work in different professions and different industries. Yet the left wants them both to earn the exact same amount. If you dare disagree, naturally you are a hater of women and support unfair work practices.

What the left seems to forget is we are all unique and there are many different ways of calculating our pay. Today our pay can be based upon many different criteria including levels of experience, level of college, which college you went to, industry contacts, scale of prior success etc.

CONSAD released a paper a several years ago and they suggested that when you control for every factor but discrimination, the gap shrunk to between ninety three cents and ninety five cents on the dollar, which is not zero, but significantly smaller than the seventy seven cent figure the President used.
However there is one fact that exposes the progressives and proves this agenda is nothing more than to sow dissension in society and creating wedge issues to win elections. That is the fact that John F Kennedy passed the Equal Pay Act in 1963:

“No employer having employees subject to any provisions of this section shall discriminate, within any establishment in which such employees are employed, between employees on the basis of sex by paying wages to employees in such establishment at a rate less than the rate at which he pays wages to employees of the opposite sex in such establishment for equal work on jobs[,] the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions, except where such payment is made pursuant to (i) a seniority system; (ii) a merit system; (iii) a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production; or (iv) a differential based on any other factor other than sex”.

Given the narrative of the left, it might be hard to believe in America in 2016, but if you are doing the exact same job in the same company and you are being paid less than another member of staff, you can bring a claim against that company. Now if we wanted to play political games we could highlight the fact the White House under President Obama only pays female staff eighty eight cents on the dollar. But what would that achieve?

The aim of the progressive left is make you feel like a powerless victim and that you cannot possibly survive without them. They want to turn you from an independent person to one dependent on a politician, a party and government.

Remember how I said I had a solution to this situation? Well let me introduce you to Robin Wright, some might remember her from one of the greatest movies of all time the Princess Bride:

Well she has had an interesting career and is now playing Claire Underwood in Netflix’s House of Cards alongside Kevin Spacey. For those unaware of the shows plot, Kevin Spacey is a career politician married to Robin’s character Claire. He plots his way to become President of the United States without a vote ever cast in his name. Claire is a central figure in the show and her presence is growing and gaining more air-time and she is also paid less than her male counter-part. Well she was but that has now changed.

Did it change because of a politician or a political party? Nope.
Did it change because of a new law coming into effect? Nope.
Did it change because of some new ruling from the Supreme Court? Nope.

So how did it change? Well it changed because she went to the bosses of the show, demanded the same amount of money as Kevin Spacey because as she put it herself,

“I was looking at the statistics and Claire Underwood’s character was more popular than [Frank’s] for a period of time, so I capitalized on it. I was like, ‘You better pay me or I’m going to go public,’” Wright said. “And they did.”

Wow, imagine that. A woman saw an opportunity to get something she was owed because of her talents and hard work and she got her pay rise and the best part – there was NO politician or government involvement needed. We have many problems facing America right now but the solutions offered could not be more different.

On the one hand you have people who see everyone as a vote, an opportunity to be exploited and a way to get elected and thus gain power for themselves by “fighting” for you. If you follow them, your success or failure is largely dependent on them and them holding power.

Or on the other hand, we can believe in free market principles and teach people to take control of their own destiny, and empower them to be 100% independent. This means your success or failure is largely dependent on YOU and the choices you make.

I will do anything to always control my own destiny. How about you?

You can listen to this as a monologue below or by clicking on the links directly on Soundcloud or ITunes.

Jonathon Dunne is an Irish national who has a life long dream of becoming an American citizen. He is now waiting in line over 12 years. Jonathon is a writer, public speaker and has a podcast exclusive to the Blaze Radio Network. He speaks about God, US History, Constitution and is a firm believer that America is exceptional because the American people are good. You can find his work on freedomsdisciple.com and engage with him on Twitter @FreedomDisciple.Follow Jonathon on Twitter @JonathonDunne13.